Red Sox Beat: Better than last year

Thursday

Jan 23, 2014 at 7:56 PMJan 24, 2014 at 10:11 AM

Are the Red Sox better at this time this year than they were at this time a year ago? The simple answer is yes.

By Eric AvidonDaily News staff

BOSTON — With nighttime temperatures hovering in the single digits and the mercury struggling to get out of the teens at the height of day, visions of summer afternoons and evenings at Fenway Park are mere fantasy.But as January gets late, the start of spring training is a lot closer in the windshield — just 23 days until pitchers and catchers report to Fort Myers — than the World Series victory is in the rearview mirror.So as the first workouts of the 2014 season near, the biggest question is simple: Are the Red Sox better at this time this year than they were at this time a year ago?And the simple answer is yes.They lost a lot when center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury bolted Boston for New York riches, leaving the position to unproven rookie Jackie Bradley Jr. and perhaps recently signed retread Grady Sizemore, but beyond that they're either improved or the same at every position."We felt we had a really strong core returning, and we had some spots we needed to fill, and we wanted to pursue players in the same context that we did last offseason, guys that we felt fit in with what we're trying to do from a skills standpoint on the field (and) off the field, and fit into the long-term plan as well," general manager Ben Cherington said Thursday prior to the Boston chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America's annual banquet. "That's the intent. We know we don't get everything right, but that's the intent."We're focused on building the best team we can each year, and we feel good about the team we have going into this year."Last year at this time the Red Sox were full of questions.Could Jon Lester recapture who he was early in his career? Would John Lackey contribute anything? Would Mike Napoli be able to play first base? Could Ellsbury stay healthy enough to make an impact? Could David Ortiz contribute anything after suffering an Achilles tendon injury that was seemingly never going to get better?And most importantly, could the disastrous clubhouse atmosphere that played a major role in derailing the previous two seasons be changed?In every case, the answer was positive for the Red Sox.A team that, at best, seemed like it could improve from 69 wins in 2012 to a little over .500 instead won the World Series.The Red Sox may not win the World Series again, but they have the right personnel to do so.The starting rotation is actually better — in terms of personnel — than it was at the start of 2013, thanks to the addition of Jake Peavy at the trade deadline.The back end of the bullpen, even if Koji Uehara doesn't have quite the historically dominant season he did last year, has a proven closer and even a solid backup in Edward Mujica should Uehara go the way of Andrew Bailey and Joel Hanrahan.Catcher was upgraded — defensively, in particular — with the signing of A.J. Pierzynski to replace Jarrod Saltalamacchia.And though Xander Bogaerts, a 21-year-old rookie, is the projected starting shortstop, he showed poise — and skill — well beyond his years last September and October to the point where he will almost certainly be better with the bat than Stephen Drew and can at least play acceptable defense.It should all add up to more than enough to overcome the loss of Ellsbury.And that leads to the second question: Can a team that played with uncommon drive after its colossal failures in 2011 and 2012, a single-mindedness that led to shocking comeback wins throughout the season and ultimately an unlikely championship, recapture the level of intensity that led to so much magic?The team believes so."If you're to collect anything in life, I think World Series rings would be up there," said Jonny Gomes. "Once you win one, it puts you in a different class, but if you can get as many as possible — and at the end of the day, that's what I signed up for. I signed up to win a championship, win multiple championships."Meanwhile, manager John Farrell said, "When you look at last year, we did such a good job of not letting yesterday impact how we went about our work today, and I think that will hold true year over year. There will be reminders of what we accomplished last year, but I'm confident that our players are about focusing on today, competing in tonight's game, and all the preparation that's required to be successful tonight."The dead of winter has not merely descended upon New England but set up camp. Yet spring training is barely three weeks away, and with it the start of another baseball season.And in this one, the Red Sox are the defending world champions, poised to at the very least contend for another."I like our chances," said Jon Lester.Eric Avidon can be reached at 508-626-3809 or eavidon@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @ericavidon.